Are All The “Five-a-Day” Good For Me?

When people talk about ‘Five-a-day’ this normally means eating five portions of fruit and vegetables. You may think that this means any fruit and any vegetables. But we are now being told that there is actually a right way and a wrong way to do this. Not all combinations of fruit and veg are beneficial – and some vegetables don’t actually count. So, how can you make sure you get the ‘five-a-day’ that is really good for you?

What does the science say?

Scientists in America have found that we actually need to eat two portions of fruit and three portions of vegetables to have a healthier diet. It’s this mix of fruit and vegetables that will help us to live a longer and better life. This is based on a study of more than two million people in America. The study showed that eating two portions of fruit and three portions of vegetables was the best possible option when it comes to eating a diet that will help to avoid disease and death. So, if you are looking to have a healthy diet that helps you live longer, it’s not just about any old five-a-day.

What about eating more fruit and veg?

The study in America showed that eating more than your five-a-day doesn’t actually help you to become healthier. There was no extra benefit in terms of increasing health and reducing the risk of death. However, we do know that diets that have a lot of fruit and vegetables in them can help you to avoid the health problems that might lead to an early death. For example, heart disease and cancer. So, if you like eating fruit and vegetables you don’t need to limit yourself to just five-a-day if you would like to eat more.

Are all fruit and vegetables included?

The study in America also looked at how the different types of fruit and vegetables make an impact. It found that not all fruit and vegetables have the same benefits. For example, starchy vegetables did not have any benefits for health. That could include potatoes, corn and fruit juice. Frozen peas are a tricky one – pea producers in the UK say that they definitely are one of your five-a-day. At the moment, most help that is given about fruit and vegetables in your diet says that any fruit and vegetables count towards five-a-day. So, this study could be important in terms of helping us all be healthier. It could also help to clear up confusion around how much fruit and vegetables we should eat every day. This can be different depending on your country. The NHS, for example, says that we should eat five portions a day. But the American Heart Association says five and in Canada it’s three larger portions.

We know that fruit and vegetables are good for us – and also taste really good. Thanks to this study now we also know how much fruit and vegetables we need to eat to be healthier and live longer. Download MyLife365.Me today to start monitoring your daily food intake.